Cap Feeding

Cap Feeders
Extreme flexibility and gentle control in handling the widest possible range of closures and fitments, including irregular shapes and delicate finishes, has established Pneumatic's Sterling Feeder as an efficient piece of equipment among bottlers and cap manufacturers. Depending on style of closure and speed requirements, Pneumatic offers four models of the Sterling Feeder for cap sorting and feeding operations. The chart below provides details on sizes handled on each feeder. Most recently introduced is the Horizontal Cap Feeder for running the expanded range of large overcaps and "G" style caps at very high speeds. This feeder operates on the principle of centrifugal force without need for cap transport lugs or stirrers because caps tend to fall with heavy side down. With closures bulk fed into a floor-level hopper of an Escalator Lift, the action of the sorting disc keeps calling for the caps to be moved upward in "flights" to feed the flat horizontal disc. The rapid circular motion of the disc forces the caps to form a single line against the inside of the wall of the outer ring guide, which is located close to the edge of the rotating disc. This centrifugal force, combined with carefully positioned air jets, prevents any cap from standing on edge. The line of caps are guided through an opening in the ring guide, and an air jet causes those caps arriving with open side down to be rejected into the Escalator Lift hopper. Caps in opposite position are guided through a loop which reverses their direction and delivers them open side down for pick-off at the end of the cap chute.
A fully assembled Sterling Feeder with caps in process of being sorted and fed into chute (at left) which delivers them to pick-off station at rear of capping machine.

Cap Diameter Ranges

max. min 38mm 15mm 2A Feeder 100mm 15mm 3A Feeder 120mm Horizontal Feeder Interchangeable center sections are available on the 2A and 3A Sterling Feeders. This feature was developed in an effort to reduce downtime by providing separate parts, in exact setting, for each size of closure being handled. Higher efficiency is assured by this procedure, especially when adjustment time for size changes must be held to a minimum.
The Pneumatic Pocket Feeder is designed to feed caps which are taller than their diameter. As caps enter the feeder, they drop into the pockets arranged around the disc, open-end in or out. While the pocket disc rotates, an air jet blows the open-ended caps out from their respective pockets. This insures that all remaining caps entering the upper chute will have open ends toward the center of the disc.

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Photo shows parts affecting one size cap which may be removed and replaced with second size group in a few minutes.

Horizontal Feeder Cap Rectifier The Horizontal Feeder Cap Rectifier eliminates recirculation of improperly positioned caps to the escalator lift. The rectifier permits maximum operating speeds and reduces handling and marring of caps during recirculation. It is designed to handle larger caps at higher speeds, primarily for wide, shallow closures measuring 48mm to 89mm.

Pneumatic offers an automatic floor level loading device which eliminates the difficult task of dumping cases of caps into a hopper located some seven feet or more off the floor. The Escalator Cap Lift may be operated in conjunction with all Pneumacap capping models. The Escalator (shown above) mechanism consists of an endless chain with a series of steps or buckets which carry a quantity of caps, upward to the cap sorting and feeding level. Caps are deposited onto a "weighing pan: which is furnished with all Sterling Feeders, and fed on demand from the capper according to the weighing pan control. This pan control responds directly to a signal from the capping machine, so as to start and stop the escalator lift chain. In this manner, the supply of closures on the Feeder's rotating disc is always kept at a level most favorable for efficient sorting with a minimum of churning action.

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